Siemens Gamesa and environmental group Energifonden Skive have signed an agreement to explore eco-friendly ammonia production.

They say surplus electricity from wind turbines can be used as an alternative method of producing ammonia – traditionally the process uses fossil fuels and is highly emissions intensive.

Ammonia has various uses, including as an essential ingredient in artificial fertilisers and as a fuel in combustion engines.

The firms are investigating how to set up a green ammonia pilot plant at the GreenLab Skive site, near the Danish town of Skive. They plan to determine plant size and capacity in the near future.

Senior Key Expert at Siemens Gamesa, Jens Schiersing Thomsen, said: “In the green, sustainable energy supply systems of the future, one of our biggest challenges will be storing and converting energy and resources.

“One solution may be the use of surplus wind-based electricity to produce eco-friendly ammonia. This solution would offer double benefits: using the surplus energy that arises in peak wind situations, and creating a new, sustainable product we call green ammonia.”